Garrison Keillor's Lutheran Show

I don't always listen to Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion, and when I do, I rarely listen to the whole show. Yesterday was an exception. Yesterday, the whole show was dedicated to the subject of what it means to be a Lutheran. I particularly love the ending clip about the Lutheran travel agency which guarantees you won't have too much fun, so you won't feel guilty about being on vacation.

I suspect that even if you didn't grow up Lutheran, if you've been part of a church at all (especially a mainstream Protestant type church), you'll find a lot of Keillor's material to feel familiar. Anyone who has been part of a church (or any social institution for that matter) knows that there's plenty of material for humor and satire here. And what I love about Keillor is that his satire never feels savage or brutal. You can feel the love that he has for the woman who doesn't want her clothes ripped off in a grand passion ("Can't I just wear old clothes that I don't mind having ripped?") or the choir directors who have to work with a wide range of talents.

He's got great musical guests on the show as well as wonderful skits and those fake commercials. What a great gift NPR gives us with all their eclectic programming.